Parker's Family Ties
by Nneave
Summary: We learn a little more about Parker's childhood and how she became the Parker we all know and love. I didn't see the series in chronological order so my timing is may be skewiff x WARNING: refers to violence towards children - not explicit but still there, rated for caution as not finished yet.
1. Chapter 1

**_Hi, this is only my second piece of writing, so I would welcome ALL feedback, especially anything that allows me to improve and grow. WARNING: Please be aware that this will touch on child abuse (violence not sexual) so if you are likely to be upset by this please don't read, although it is only referred to I would hate to cause anyone any heartache._**

* * *

Chapter 1 – Parker's Family Ties

Eliot got the call half way home. He heard the quite calm as she spoke the words, and he heard the fear behind them; he knew what it took for Parker to call for help and he knew for her to make that call, the threat was real.

'_Eliot, someone's here, they're after me"._

Eliot drove through every red light between him and Parker's home, screeching the truck to a stop outside Parker's place, door open before the wheels even stopped, and he was running, barely pausing to pull the keys from the ignition. He burst through the door of her warehouse home and immediately noticed three things: 1) no Parker; 2) a small, beautiful woman with long dark hair being attacked by three guys; and 3) she was handing them their asses! Yet 3 guys attacking one woman and well she was kind of small, so he didn't question who was on whose side but ran to attack the guys, but by the time he got to them all three were laid out and the brunette was turning to face him, tiny fists up, watching, waiting.

Calculating in his head, wanting answers he decided to play it cool, hanging back a little trying to seem less threatening, he watched as the woman circled so she had the sleeping guys between her and Eliot. Mentally he acknowledged the strategy but he knew this woman was no threat to him, sure she'd taken out three untrained thugs, but she was no match for his years of training.

"_Who are you?"_ he calmly asked the woman before him, who was trying to face him down.

"_Me? You break into my home, and you wanna know who I am? Who the hell are you?"_ She snapped back looking him up and down like he was crazy.

He narrowed his eyes but ignoring the comment he carried on, _"Who are these guys?"_

"_You tell me. Maybe they work for you."_ He smiled inside at the idea he would ever use such amateurs.

"_Where's Parker?"_ He asked politely but letting the smile show, the one Parker said scared people.

"_What?"_ She frowned at him.

"_Parker. Where. Is. Parker?"_ His voice getting an edge.

"_Who are you?"_ She shot back.

Quietly; dangerously; this time, he told her, _"I'm only going to ask you once more..."_

"_Who are you first, and what do you want with Parker?"_

He growled at her and started to circle around towards her,

"_I'm Parker" She snapped, back sounding slightly panicked._

He stared back at her for a moment, mentally off balance.

_"I'm Parker, now what the hell do you guys want?"_

He stopped and raised his eyebrows at her for a moment. _"You're Parker? You're Parker" He repeated as she started to nod, "Well, that's real funny 'cause the Parker I've been working with for the last year and a half is blonde."_

She narrowed her eyes at him, _"Well I don't know who that was, but I'm Parker and this is my place. Take your friends and go."_

He screwed up his face like he was talking to an idiot, shaking his head he told her they are not my friends and you will tell me where Parker is. _"The real Parker"_ he told her angrily as she started to interrupt.

"_Or what? You going to hurt me Cowboy?"_ She challenged him. _"I heard the famous Eliot Spencer doesn't do that kind of thing anymore"._

"_You know you are really starting to get under my skin lady, but you're right I don't do that kind of thing anymore: unless someone threatens my family: and Parker,"_ he paused for that to sink in, _"she's family."_

The brunette looked at him as though weighing him up and finally nodded.

"_Right answer cowboy; now tell me something only a friend of Parker's would know"._

"_What?"_ he asked, thrown by the sudden switch of tactics.

"_So that I know you definitely are Eliot Spencer, tell me something Parker would only tell a friend" _she repeated patiently like he was an idiot – Eliot started to wonder if he was...

Eliot frowned as he thought; he still didn't know who this woman was but he decided to go along at least for now; after all she must know something. He watched as one of the goons stirred and the woman kicked him hard across the face, knocking him clean out again.

"_Now prove you're really Eliot Spencer; tell me the name of Parker's horse."_ Eliot really felt like he'd really lost control of the situation now.

Eliot screwed up his face again and shook his head, "_Parker doesn't have a horse, she's terrified of horses."_

"_Why?"_

"_She thinks they kill people!"_

The woman looked at him and nodded, _"Right answer again"_ she told him as she relaxed and put out her hand formally, _"Hi, I'm Parker's sister Jayney, I..."_

"_Parker doesn't have a sister, or any family!"_ He told her firmly.

"_Huh" _Jane replied as she dropped her hand _"she doesn't talk about us then? Can't say I'm surprised, but she talks about you guys all the time. Hardison, you, Hardison, Sophie, Hardison, ..."_

Nate's voice came over the comms:

"_It's okay Eliot, I know who she is. She's telling the truth or close enough, bring her in if you can, but don't mention my name yet though..."_

Eliot frowned at that but said nothing.

* * *

**Hi, I hope you enjoyed the first part of this story, I have almost finished it but I'm still ironing out the kinks, if anyone is interested in being a beta for me please pm me x**


	2. Chapter 2

As they entered the offices Jayney scanned around, nodding to Sophie and Hardison, until she caught sight of Nate. She stopped abruptly and _"Nathan Ford? Huh! I don't think so."_

She turned on her heels only to come nose to chest with an impassive hitter blocking her way.

"_Seriously, are you going to hold me captive?"_

"_I thought you wanted to find Parker?"_ a confused Eliot asked her.

"_I do, but not to put her in prison or a psych ward for him"_ she said as she jabbed a finger angrily towards Nate.

"_Five minutes."_ Nate told her calmly, _"Listen to me for five minutes and if you still want to go it alone, we won't stop you. You have my word."_

Jane snorted derisively at the thought that might mean something to anyone.

"Five minutes, Jayney. For Parker." Nate told her.

"_Five minutes?"_ Jayney repeated looking at her watch_, "Doesn't look like I have a choice" _flicking her head towards Eliot.

Nate stood up from behind the counter and walked slowly across the bar room towards her, she crossed her arms defensively and but Eliot noticed her feet were back in a fighting stance, he frowned when he realised she saw Nate as a threat.

"_I was wrong."_ Nate told her sincerely standing a few feet in front of her, _"What I did? Was wrong. I can give you an explanation, I can tell you about stuff going on in my life at that time, how it was falling apart and how I was drinking, but it would just be excuses; so instead I'll just say I'm sorry and that we are 100% on Parker's side here; no matter what."_

Jayney said nothing, so Nate continued, _"We are more than a team. We are her family too. We take care of each other and Parker is important to us. We will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Everyone one of us, but me most of all: because I owe her that."_

Jayney thought that over for a minute. _"You never told her what you tried to do, did you?"_ she asked him quietly.

Nate shook his head briefly, _"No; and I don't blame you if you do, but for Parker's sake please, wait until this is over. I know you don't trust me, and with reason, but we need to get things under control first."_

Jayney took a deep breath and let it out slow then nodded, _"OK; Truce. Till whatever this is works itself out, but after that; no promises"_

Nate smiled and put his hand out, echoing the movement she'd made to Eliot earlier, Jayne shook it once and allowed herself to be ushered into the meeting room.

"_So first things first..."_ Nate began taking charge _"We need to find Parker. Hardi..."_

Jayney cut him off, _"No."_

Everyone turned to her as she continued, _"Parker is safe. Don't waste time looking for her, you'll only lead them to her."_

Eliot jumped in, _"You know where she is?"_

"_No. But she got away clean and no one can hide like Parker. The only way they'll get to her is if we lead them to her"_

Something clicked in Eliot's brain, and he swore quietly.

Jayney laughed softly, _"You didn't think I was so chatty at the warehouse just so I could hear that sexy southern drawl of yours did you?"_

Annoyed he'd not seen it earlier, Eliot said, _"you were running distraction, you were there to slow down the bad guys so Parker had time to escape - Damnit."_

Jayney just grinned at him.

"_OK,"_ Nate interrupted _"do you know what this is all about?_

"_Not for sure, but she called me, so I figure there is only two reasons she would do that. The most likely being this is linked to me."_

"_Makes sense"_ Nate said, _"Do you have something or someone in mind?"_

"_Couple of people, but the timing suggests one in particular although I'm not sure why. About 10 years ago my Uncle was killed. He was a marine and because of the nature of the job, we were never really told what happened; just killed in action. I made the mistake of telling Parker that I found that really difficult, not knowing. I'd lost my dad only the year before and we'd been close and I didn't handle it very well, any of it. In fact it's why I was in the foster system, losing Uncle Rich so soon afterwards was hard. I know it's for the right reasons, but I just wanted to know how; why; if he suffered..." _She trailed off, still struggling all these years later to voice her pain.

"_Pretty standard practice if information contained in the reports are still sensitive." Eliot told everyone._

"_I know, and most of my family are or were in the Corps, so I understand that, but it was still hard, I was just a kid really. So when Parker stole the report..._

"_What!"_ Exclaimed Sophie, _"Hang on, she'd have only been about 12 then!"_

"_I know"_ Jayney rolled her eyes, "_She broke into a secure military base just to put my mind at ease."_

"_Did it?"_ Eliot asked quietly, thinking of all people he'd known whose family had received similar standard issue reports, _"Knowing, did it help you?" _

"_Not at first. I was too angry, and scared, and worried, about what Parker had done. Till I realised she'd risked everything because she knew how upset I was. She wanted to help; in her own unique Parker way."_ She smiled at Eliot_, "That helped. Knowing I still had family around me, even if they were not family by birth."_

"_So what was in the report that would be worth killing for?"_

"_That's just it, I'm not sure. Certainly I didn't see anything at the time, but I wasn't looking for mistakes or blame. I just wanted to know if he suffered; so maybe I missed something."_

Nate frowned, _"So what makes you think this is the reason for the hit?"_

"_The timing. The General who sent them in is standing for election as a senator on the back of his military career. Richard was the only casualty, the file goes missing after I contact the G General and ask for more information and I just happen to grow up with world's best thief..."_

Nate nodded slowly, _"OK; I can see that. They are tying up loose ends. Hardison, you start..."_

"_No."_

"_I'm sorry?" _ Nate looked confused again; Eliot was glad she didn't just have that effect on him.

"_I want to talk to him."_ Jayney told them calmly.

"_Who?"_ Nate asked starting to feel how Eliot had felt earlier.

"_General Harmon, I'm going to look him in the eye and ask him about my Uncle. It will either rattle him or it won't. I don't do this skulking around and climbing in windows in the middle of the night: people push me, I push back."_

"_It could get you killed."_ Nate told her patiently.

"_Then you'll know for sure and you can protect Parker better. Besides I'll take Gorilla Guy with me." _ She grinned as she nodded towards Eliot, _"He can be my camera man."_

"_Yes, I should probably mention Miss McGrath here works for the New York Times."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the kind reviews, I hope you enjoy the next chapter. I've pm'd about 5 or 6 beta's now and had no response so I apologise for any glaring mistakes but you go word-blind after a while x**

It was agreed Jayney should stay at the offices as Parker's place was compromised and if it was the General, they would be looking for her too. Sophie disappeared after Nate, Hardison was seeing what he could dig up on the General and his campaign so far, which left Jayney sat at the counter with a glass of wine, watching Eliot cook dinner.

"_Do you ever cook for Parker like this?"_ Jayney asked with a slight frown.

"_Yeah sometimes, maybe once or twice a week," _Eliot told her_, "depending on the job, where we are, what's going on. Why?"_

Jayney smiled ruefully_, "I just like the idea that she eats something other than cereal now and then."_

Eliot smiled, and thought that through for a minute. _"You obviously care a lot about her, so how come..."_ Eliot paused wondering if he was about to put his foot in his mouth.

Jayney laughed gently at his discomfort, her eyes teasing, "_How come I don't visit more, how come she doesn't talk about me, or even visit me very often?"_

Eliot nodded.

Jayney sighed and looked down into her glass of wine as she swirled the contents. "_We talk all the time but... she thinks I disapprove of her life; that I'm disappointed in her. No matter what I say I can't convince her otherwise."_

"_Do you? Disapprove I mean."_

Jayney bit her lip on one side_ "Maybe" She said honestly, "_but not in the way she thinks_. We stole after we left the children's home: food, clothing, stuff we needed, we had no choice and you know the way I see it, kids shouldn't be living on the streets going hungry, so it's kind of okay. The difference is once we didn't need to steal, we stopped. Parker..." she trailed off._

"_Parker didn't." Eliot finished for her._

"_No: if anything she got worse, or better depending on your point of view" she smiled wryly. "I understand the rush she gets, I understand that she has an amazing skill and gets a kick out of it, but you know she's so good at other things too." She was quiet for a moment. "Have you ever seen any of her photography?"_

Eliot frowned and shook his head.

"_She's amazingly talented, she could make a fantastic living from that, I showed a couple of her shots around and one gallery was tripping over themselves to do an exhibition. Why not do that and jump off buildings for an adrenalin high?" She paused to collect her thoughts, "It's not that I judge her for her choices whatever she thinks; I just don't understand them and that bothers me I guess. To me a good living honestly, is better than a fantastic one stealing."_

Jayney stared down at her wine for a moment, wondering now if she'd put her foot in it, after all this was one of Parker's team, they stole stuff too, although from what Parker said usually to return it or to help someone – and not just her team she thought, but her new family, and she realised that hurt just a little.

Hardison bustled in and started talking about a hack he'd written, Jayney made her excuses and nipped to the balcony, feeling the need to be alone for awhile and liking the feel of the cold air on her skin.

"_Dinner in 15 minutes_" Eliot called after her, watching her as she walked away, trying to remember this was Parker's sister; which kind of made her family too.

Hardison sat down at the counter and spoke to Eliot in a conspiritual way, "_Hey, you know anything about what's gone on between her and Nate?"_

"_No_," Eliot said simply, "_but we know he's chased all of us at some point, so I'm guessing it's got something to do with that."_

Hardison, nodded slowly for a moment, then a thought occurred to him. "_You know earlier when she said there were only two reasons for Parker to call her? She never said what the other reason was_."

Eliot shook his head, "_not relevant_" He told Hardison simply.

"_What do you mean_?"

"_I mean it's not relevant, it doesn't apply here_." Eliot looked at his friend, but knowing he wouldn't let it drop, he sighed, "T_he only other reason to call in outside help? If there was someone in the group she didn't trust or was somehow involved. Not relevant here."_

Hardison's eyes widened slightly at the understanding but he nodded acknowledgement to Eliot; they trusted their team.

They all sat together and shared a meal; Jayney enjoyed it and not just the food, the camaraderie, the gentle rib pulling and the bad jokes, it reminded her of the family she'd had before the foster system, something she'd tried very hard not to think about in a long time. So with her mind still on Parker and the thought of facing the General tomorrow she thought it best to have an early night, but as she headed for the door, she heard footsteps behind her.

"_Hey Jayney,_" Hardison called after her, "_I was er, was er..."_

Jayney turned back to look at him as she opened the door, eyebrows raised.

"_You said Parker talked about us sometimes, I was wondering, what she said about me or if she said anything about me, or..._" He stammered to a stop.

Jayney smiled and took pity on him. "_From all that Parker has said about you I know three things Hardison. Firstly, you drink way too much orange soda, it's not good for you, you know; secondly, you're some kind of elf lord which took some explaining I can tell you."_ She started to turn away but Hardison called her back, _"Wait, what's the third thing?_"

Jayney stepped up close to Hardison, and spoke in low threatening tones, "_Let's just say, you hurt her, and not even your pet grizzly bear over there will be able to stop me from tearing you limb from limb._" She smiled and held his gaze for a second, making sure he got both messages. Hardison swallowed and nodded, "_for what it's worth, if I hurt her, that grizzly bear will help you tear me apart._" Jayney glanced back at Eliot for a moment and caught him watching them. She nodded to Hardison before continuing on.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Later that night, Eliot was alone with his thoughts when a tired looking Nate came through followed by Sophie in full drama mode, "Fine!" Sophie told him, in a way which clearly meant it wasn't, "Don't talk to me about anything important." She headed for the front door, "It's worked so well for you so far, why change now!" was her parting shot as she slammed the front door.

He sat down heavily on the sofa and wordlessly Eliot went over and handed him a beer, then sat down and waited.

Nate took a swig of his beer, lost in his own thoughts. "Is there anything I need to know about Jayney?" Eliot asked simply. "Letting a reporter in, that's a risk Nate."

Nate was silent for a moment before answering. "She won't expose Parker,"

"You sure Nate because I like what we have here and I'd hate to lose it to a journalist out for a fresh story."

Nate shook his head, "She's wont risk hurting Parker, she's no threat to us."

"...and this thing between you and her?"

Nate looked down again, taking time to collect his thoughts. "Well I was looking for Parker; my son had just been diagnosed... I was drinking a little too much and... I just kept thinking get through this job as soon as I can and everything will be ok, you know, everything. My son; me and Maggie; everything depended on catching Parker as quickly as possible." Nate shook his head "Stupid" he muttered to himself before continuing.

"When they were in the foster home, the guy who ran it, he was...violent. He'd go drinking and come back and choose a kid to 'punish'. Didn't matter that some of those kids were only 5 or 6, Parker she was about 8 then. Jayney she got in the way. She was oldest, she was new to the system, she didn't see it as an 'each for themselves' situation, she stood up to him. I mean, it didn't do any good, she was just a kid, but she took the hits for the others, and taught them to stand together..." Nate paused. "She's tough, she... So one day Jayney was working, she took jobs here and there, they were saving up to leave. She had it all planned, she cut school, got jobs at the docks, or the market, cleaning, anything really, with the others at school they were safe right? Only this last time, he'd lost his job a couple of days before, but not said anything. Waited for Jayney to leave that morning and then...lost it." Nate stopped unable to continue for a moment.

"I don't know why she came back at lunchtime, or even what really happened but the police theory is that she caught him mid attack, picked up the nearest thing she could find – a kitchen knife and stabbed him, not fatally but put him in hospital for a while. There was a big investigation." Nate stared at his drink for a moment. "No charges were brought, lack of evidence. They stuck together, despite the threats of Juvie, prison and everything else: they were a family, she gave them that." Nate sighed and drained the last of his beer. "To my never ending shame, I tried to use that to force Jayney to give me Parker. She built her career as a journalist on her honesty and integrity: she's respected and this, this could have damaged her, it could have wiped out her career...but she called my bluff. Actually," Nate frowned, "I'm not even sure she called my bluff or if she figured she'd take the beating again. Like I said, she's tough." Nate stood up abruptly, "So you see, we're quite safe. She's spent half her life protecting Parker, she won't expose us, it would hurt Parker."

Nate headed off to his room and Eliot was once again alone with his thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

Eliot followed Jayney as they were shown into the would-be Senator's office, where they were greeted politely, offered tea and given a few minutes to prepare for the interview. When the General arrived he was polite, although clearly a little nervous. Jayney asked a few background questions to relax him, why are you running, what are your key policies and aims, before getting down to the more difficult questions. Eliot was impressed, she wasn't trying to trick the General, she gave him time to answer questions, challenged his views to draw him out and get a better picture of the man and his ideals, giving him an opportunity to answer criticisms brought by the opposition but didn't let him off too easy, she chased the answers if he appeared to change the subject or deflect. Tough but fair, Eliot thought again. By the time the interview drew to a close the General was in his stride, he was clearly enjoying the interview and shook hands warmly with Jayney as they posed for photographs before Eliot.

"Thank you Miss McGrath, it's been a pleasure."

"Actually General, I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment on a personal matter."

The General frowned briefly unsure what to expect, but nodded agreement as Eliot made a show of taking the camera equipment apart.

"General, I don't know if you remember this but many years ago I wrote to you about my Uncle, he was killed at Harrow's Point? You had overall command at the time?"

The General's frown, deepened for a moment, as he thought back, Eliot and Jayney watched his reaction closely. Then suddenly his face lit up, "Gunnery Sergeant McGrath! Yes I remember him, the men called him something else though, er... Gunny Gravy!" The General became very animated now, shaking his head, with a grin on his face as he remembered, "that damn kid ate gravy with everything! And you're his niece?" The general shook his head again, "Now that makes me feel real old." He told her before a thought occurred to him. "Wait, you're the girl that wrote to me? I still have that letter you know, because it was so eloquent and made me remember how hard it is for those back home, it stuck with me. Should have known you'd become a writer" He beamed at her.

At that point an aide came in and tried to usher the General to another appointment but the General would have none of it; he spoke to Jayney for another half an hour or so, told her stories about her Uncle and some of the stunts and practical jokes he'd pulled that had got him reprimanded on occasion, speaking with what appeared to be genuine affection as he looked back. Eventually the General looked at his watch and his hovering aide and admitted he had to go. "Before I do Jayney, I just want to say how sorry I am. Gunnery Sergeant McGrath was a fine marine and although what happened is still classified, I don't think anything would be considered sensitive now so let me say this; what happened was instant. No-one saw the mortar coming until the explosion, and for the little it's worth, it was instant. No suffering."

Jayney smiled though there were tears in her eyes, "Thank you General, you've no idea how grateful I am to you for your time today."

He shook her hand warmly, and smiled. "Well under the circumstances it's the least I could do."


End file.
